Letter from the Pastor
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March 3, 2024We have now entered the third month of the year. If however, you were born before 150 B.C., March was the first month of the year! According to the oldest Roman calendars, the year was only ten months long, beginning in March and ending in December. That is why December was named for the number ten in Latin (decem), just like September was named for seven (septem), etc. January and February were two months added on to the end of the year.
March was named for the Latin Martius (Mars), the Roman god of war. As the ice and snows melted and the ground became ready for planting, March was historically the perfect month for both farmers and soldiers to resume their work of planting or warring.
Incidentally, almost all major U.S.-NATO led military operations since the invasion of Vietnam have begun in the month of March: Vietnam (March 8, 1965), Iraq (March 20, 2003) and Libya (March 19, 2011) all follow the trend. We need to pray for peace especially as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza seem to be intensifying.
First Reconciliation
Pray for our second graders, who will be receiving their First Confession next Saturday.
Do you remember your first confession? The different generations, and different churches, different towns even countries have quite different experiences.
In our days First Confession is a celebration in the Church with Liturgy of the Word, entire families come, some may even take pictures. I remember years ago, an over-zealous father entered into the confessional with his child carrying one of those large video cameras on his shoulder to record the moment.
When I received my first confession, it was the Friday afternoon before my First Communion. Sr. Margaret Mary took us all over to Church after lunch and the one o’clock “lavatory” break. We were only allowed to go the “lavatory” at 10 AM and 1 PM, whether you needed it or not.
Sister then put us on line before the confessional, no choices back then. You entered through the heavy curtain and knelt down, there was a click, the green light became red, came to find out if you moved your knee in the right spot, the light would change back and forth. I came to find out; Sister had no problem barging right in to correct me.
You knelt in the darkness of the confessional, only hearing the mumbling of the other sinner.
We knew that we were under the penalty of sin not to repeat what you may have heard. Then the sound that puts the fear of God in you. The sliding of the wooden door and seeing the priest sitting there with the light shining from above! After the confession, we went back to school where Sister told us not to sin before receiving First Communion. Imagine a 7-year-old trying not to sin for 8 whole hours!
As a priest there is a beauty and a real joy in hearing First Confessions: their innocence, their sincerity, their sorrow for their little sins, and their firm purpose of amendment. Obviously, a seven year old doesn’t understand the weight of sin but it is the joy of knowing that God loves them, and nothing that they ever could do will take away God’s love from them. So if you adults haven’t been to confession in a while, now is the time. Holy Week and Easter will be celebrated at the end of this month of March. Save the date; March 25th will be the annual Lenten Day of Reconciliation in all the Churches in New York.
Come and experience the Beauty and Joy of Confession.
